Kool Stop Salmons - Not as great as I'd hoped

[oldgreyandslow]

Just fitted these to my ultegra calipers, and having read all the great reviews I was really expecting them to be top class, and in the dry they are pretty good. In the wet however, the performance from the front brake was terrible, nothing happening, no scrubbing off of speed at all. The back seemed less poor, but overall not great.

I was surprised, the reviews seemed to indicate that these are great for both wet and dry conditions.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Banjo]

I tried them and found them pretty good stopping power in wet and dry. You haven't got wash and wax or something splashed on the rims have you? I once washed the frame on mine with car wash and wax some got on rims and braking was non existent until I scrubbed the rims .

 

[Dirk]

Swisstop Greens for me.

 

[Drago]

Have you put them on old rims? May take a few dozen miles to get them scrubbed.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I've used Koolstop Salmons for years and been impressed with them.

 

[Crandoggler]

Dura ace/ ultegra/ 105 pads for me. Cheap and very effective for a 100kg+ rider.

 

[biggs682]

I've used Koolstop Salmons for years and been impressed with them.

same here

 

[Brandane]

I won't use anything other than Koolstops on my bikes now, but I usually go for the dual compound type of half salmon, half standard black.
They seem much kinder to rims with no horrible grinding noises going on when braking.

 

[lpretro1]

Perhaps brake setup is the issue rather than the pads as these are normally excellent - or mucky rims?

 

[hoopdriver]

Agree. Either your rims are mucky or the breaks are set up poorly. I've used Koolstop salmon for years, lot if high mileage riding often in bad weather, and I swear by them.

 

[si_c]

I think your mistake is comparing dry braking with wet braking. You should be comparing how the koolstops are in the wet against your old brake pads in the wet. I found a significant improvement in performance moving to the salmons when riding in terrible conditions, that's not to say that the braking is great, it's just no longer terror inducing.

 

[slowmotion]

I found Koolstop Salmons to be over-priced crap actually.

 

[Aperitif]

Good blocks! (Sorry Martin ) I use the salmon on most bikes and the dual compound on fixed. works for me. Spa Cycles are my trusty vendors.
In the height of Summer, around town, I use Kool-Stop 'salmon and cucumber' - as I'm likely to get sandwiched between buses and lorries on my commute.